Mortal Kombat fans have been looking forward to Mortal Kombat X, the newest next-gen entry to the long-running fighter series, for quite a while. Now, as they've already done with properties like Injustice: Gods Among Us and WWE: Immortals, Warner Bros. is preparing a mobile companion app to go along with the much more complex console game. It will be available sometime in April, probably around the same time that the full game is released.

The mobile version will come from WB's in-house developer NetherRealm, which also developed the mobile versions of Batman: Arkham City Origins, Injustice, and Immortals. That being the case, you can expect a swipe-and-tap combat system and an upgrade/collection mechanic that dips into the deep end of the free-to-play pool. The press release below calls Mortal Kombat X "a hybrid of fighting, card collecting, multiplayer team combat and more." That usually means some unfair matches in multiplayer and the higher tiers of the single-player game.

To be fair, WB's free-to-play games haven't been all that egregious so far - they seem to understand that reasonable in-app payments make for better games, which get more players, and thus earn more money. The previous WB-NetherRealm games have also been among the most graphically intense on Android. If nothing else, Mortal Kombat X should be pretty when it comes out... in so much as a series infamously free with blood, guts, and flying limbs can be called "pretty." Owners of the console game will be able to unlock exclusive content in the mobile version.

PRESS RELEASE